Shoe-sewing machine.



No. 684,540. Patented Oct. I5, I901. H. CHADBOURN.

SHOE SEWING MACHINE. (Application filed. May 4, 1901.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet I.

W655 as m: nonms PETERS cov, PHOTO-LUNG WASHVNGTC'N, u. c.

No. 684,540. Patented 00%. I5, l90l. H. GHADBUURN.

SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

(Application filed. May 4, 1901.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

No. 684,540. Patentd Oct. 15, I901. H. CHADBOURN.

SHDE SEWING MACHINE.

(Application filed May 4, 1901.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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H CHADBOURN SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

{Application filed May 4, 1901.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

6565.- XL QJWWLa/L UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE.

HENRY OI-IADBOURN, OF STONEHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEWV JERSEY, A CORPO- RATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-SEWING MACHINE.

SPEGEEIGATIONforming part of Letters Patent N 0. 684,540, dated October 15, 1901.

Application filed May 4, 1901. Serial No. 58,826. (No model.)

To all 1071,077 it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY CHADBOURN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stoneham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Shoe-Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates generally to shoe-sewing machines, and more particularly to shoe-sewing machinesof the wax-thread chain-stitch type, of which the commercial welt and turn sewing-machines are examples.

The object of my invention is to improve the construction and operation of the threadhandling devices, and especially to diminish the rendering or chafing of the thread in the hook of the needle and around the between substance While under tension during the formation, tightening, and setting of the stitch and also to improve the machine in various other respects hereinafter pointed out.

To the above ends the present invention consists in the devices and combinations of devices hereinafter pointed out in the specification and defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a turn shoe-sewing machine embodying my invention with the driving-pulley removed. Fig. 2 is a section on the line was of Fig. 1, showing the tension de- 5 vice and the means for controlling the same.

Figs. 3, 4t, 5, 6, and 7 are diagrammatic illustrations of the cooperative relations of the thread-handling devices in five of their positions to facilitate the description and understanding of their arrangement and mode of operation.

The present invention contemplates the employment of the usual hook-needle, looper, and tension, in combination with a tension- 5 releasing device and a spring-actuated pulloff adapted to pull thread from the supply while the tension is released and to holda bight of thread under a less strain than the tension while the tension is on, which bight of thread is available to supply thread to the needle during its next retreating or loopdrawing stroke, together with suitable mechanism for actuating the parts in proper timed relation to each other.

In the illustrated embodiment of my in vention I have shown it as adapted to a turn sewing-machine of the Lincoln type; but it is to be understood that my invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms of machines, whether welt or turn machines employing a curved hook-needle or sewingmachines employing a straight hook-needle, and in its broader aspects whether a threadfinger be employed or not, although I prefer in order to secure the best results from my invention to use it in connection with a thread-finger. It is also to be noted that my invention is available for use in machines in which the stitch is set by a cam-actuated take-up, as well as in machines like the ma- 7o chine of the drawings, in which no positivelyactuated devices other than the needle,looper, and thread-finger are employed to bring the stitch to its final position in the finished seam, although my invention is probably more advantageously employed in machines of the latter class, because with these machines there is usually more chafing or'rendering of the thread under strain in the book of the needle than in the former type.

The machine is provided with a suitable frame 1 for the support of the various parts thereof, a standard or support 2 on which the frame is mounted, a driving-shaft 3, mounted in the frame, a cam or cams 4E, mounted on said shaft and from which various moving parts derive their motion, a curved hook-needle 5 and operating mechanism to oscillate said needle, a looper 6 and operating mechanism to cause the looping of the thread in the 0 barb of the needle, a feed-point 7 and operating mechanism, a back gage S, auxiliary back gage 9, and operating mechanisms for said gages, a tension device for the thread, (preferably a spring-controlled tension-wheel10,) 5 and a channel-guide 11. The particular construction and arrangement of the abovenamed elements are not essential to my invention, and any usual or preferred construction may be employed, as desired. The thread 12 in its path from the thread-supply to the work passes over the tension-wheel 10 and threadtrucks 13 and 14 and through the looper 6 to the Work. Between the trucks 13 and 14 is placed a pull-off truck 15, under which the thread passes in the path between the trucks 13 and 14:, and this pull-off truck is mounted upon the free end of the lever 16, which is pivotally mounted on its opposite end to the stud on which the truck 13 turns. 17, attached to the lever 16 and to the frame of the machine, tends to turn the lever 16 on its fulcrum, and thereby to draw the pull-off truck 15, with the thread resting in it, to one side and so that the thread will be carried out of a straight line in its path between the two trucks 13 and 14, thereby forming a loop or bight in the thread, which is held by the yielding influence of the spring 17. The truck and its spring 17 constitute a spring-actuated pull-off and thread-controlling device which is adapted to pull thread from the supply while the tension is released and to hold a bight ofthread under a less strain than the tension, as will be more fully described in connection with the description of the operation of the machine. Incidental to the pulloff function of this device it may also, acting either alone orin conjunction with the threadfinger and looper, have some capacity of taking up thread from the preceding loop standing around the shank of the needle to thereby shorten or tend to tighten such loop; but the principal and in general the distinguishing function of this device is its pull-off function. In this connection it is to be noted that when my invention is used in connection with that class of machines in which the stitch is set by a cam-actuated take-up this device would not have any take-up function, while in the class of machines which are not provided with a cam-actuated take-up this device might and preferably does have a takeup function in addition to its pull-off function. A lever 18 is fulcrumed at 19 to the frame of the machine and is provided at one end with the thread-finger 20. \Vhen this lever is turned on its fulcrum, as hereinafter described, the thread-finger engages the thread in its path from the looper to the work and on that side of the needle which is toward the last stitch formed in the work and by this means forms and holds a loop or bight of thread on that side of the needle which is toward the last stitch formed. A bell-crank lever 21 is fulcrumed at to the frame of the machine and is provided at one end with the cam-roll 23, (shown partlyin dotted lines in Fig. 1,) which cam-roll engages a camsurface on the cam 4, and in connection with a spring 24, which is attached to the lever 21 and to the frame of the machine, causes said lever 21 to work upon its fulcrum. A connecting rod or link 25 connects the bell-crank lever 21 and the lever 18 in such a manner that the rocking of the lever 21 will cause a similar movement of the lever 18, with its attached thread-finger 20, and bring the threadfinger into engagement with the thread to A spring form a loop or bight in the thread, which will be held by the thread-finger. The tensionwheel 10 is loosely mounted upon a shaft or stud 26 on a bracket 27, attached to or made in one piece with the frame of the machine. A friction-washer 2b is interposed between the tension-wheel 10 and a flange on the bracket 27. A flanged sleeve 29 is loosely mounted upon the shaft 26, and a frictionwasher 30 is interposed between the tensionwheel and the flange on the sleeve29. A spiral spring 31 surrounds the shaft 26 between the sleeve 29 and a nut 32, screwed upon the screw-threaded end of the shaft 26 and acts to clamp the tension-wheel between the friction-washers 28 and 30, thereby applying tension to the thread carried on the tension-wheel. A forked bell-crank lever 33 is fulcrumed at 34 to the bracket 27 or to the frame of the machine and has its forked end resting within an annular groove 35 on the sleeve 29 in such a manner that the lever 33 may be turned on its fulcrum and cause the sleeve 29 to be moved longitudinally on the shaft 26 to allow the tension-wheel 10 to rotate freely upon the shaft 26, and therebyrelease the tension from the thread. A rod 36 connects the end of the lever 33 to a suitable treadle (not shown on the drawings) in such a manner that the tension may be released whenever desired by the operation of said treadle by foot or otherwise.

In carrying out my invention it is necessary that there should be an intermittent and automatic releasing of the tension from the thread during the operation of the machine while sewing, and I accomplish this result in the machine of the drawings by the following mechanism: A second bell-crank lever 37 (shown in Fig. 1, partly in dotted lines) is fulcrumed at 38 to an ear orlug on the frame of the machine, which lever is provided at one end with the cam-roll 39, engaginga camgroove on the earn 4, and at its opposite end it rests upon the bell-crank lever 33 in such a manner that when the lever 37 is turned upon its fulcrum by the action of the cam 4 upon the cam-roll on said lever it will cause the lever 33 to be turned upon its fulcrum, and thereby the pressure on the tensions wheel will be relieved and the tension will be released from the thread. The cam-groove in the cam 4 for the operation of the lever 37 is properly shaped to cause said lever to be moved at the desired time.

The operative relation of the various parts hereinbefore described will now be set forth in connection with a description of the operation of the machine, reference being had to Figs. 3, 4:, 5, 6, and 7 of the drawings.

In Fig. 3, which I have marked position 1, I have shown the needle in the position which it occupies after it has pierced the work during its forward movement, with the previously-formed loop of thread standing on its shank. The looper and thread finger have been idle since they performed their looping and bight-forming functions during the formation of the loop standing on the shank of the needle, and the needle has just advanced from its most retracted position, and during its forward motion it has left the previously-formed loop standing loose on its shank. When the needle was in its most retracted position, the pull-off truck was in its highest position and was exerting a tension on the thread measured by the strength of its spring and the tension was on, and while the parts are moving to the positions shown in position 1 the tension still remains on, resisting the pulling off of thread to the full extent of its capacity. It will therefore be seen that the forward movement of the needle occurs while the tension is on and while the pull-off is exerting a strain on the thread, and consequently when the needle has arrived at the position shown in position 1 the pull-off, if the resistance to reeving of the thread through the last needle-hole is exceeded by the strain exerted by thefpull-off upon the thread, will at this time have had some action as a take-up and will have taken up some of the slack thread in the loop standing around the shank of the needle. I have therefore shown the pull-oft in this figure as having fallen a little from its highest position and in so falling as having taken up some slack thread from the preceding loop. This function of the pu1l-olf to the extent that it is capable of performing this function reduces the rendering of the thread around the between substance, and correspondingly diminishes one of the ill effects usually flowing from the setting of the stitch by the needle.

In Fig. 4, position2, I have shown the needle as fully advanced through the material, having moved forward from the position shown in position 1. The thread-finger has moved backward and formed 'a bight of thread, which it holds. The tension is still on and the looper has moved forward, having begun its looping movement. The motions of the thread-finger and looper have deflected the thread from its straight path to the Work and have thereby accomplished the lifting of the pull-off truck. This pull on the thread exerted by the thread-finger and looper will have efiected also a further shortening of the preceding loop standing around the shank of the needle if the resistance to the rendering of the thread through the preceding needlehole has not exceeded the strain of the pull-' position the tension is released. After the release of the tension the looper completes its looping motion, and the parts then occupy the positions shown in Fig. 5, position 3, the pulloff having pulled a bight of thread from the tension and now occupying its lowest position, resting on the guard of the looper-actuating slide. The needle then commences its retracting stroke, and the tension remains released until the needle has emerged from the work and reached approximately the position indicated in Fig. 6, position 4. During this movement of the needle the thread finger gives up its bight of thread to the needle on one side thereof and the released tension gives up thread freely to the needle on the other side thereof, thereby relieving the needle of the strain incident to pulling a loop of thread through the materials under the full strain of the tension,

From the positions of the parts illustrated in Fig. 6, position 4, to the positions of the parts illustrated in Fig. 7, position 5, and, indeed, until they again take the positions of the parts illustrated in Fig. 4, position 2, the tension remains on, and the needle during its movement from position 4 to position 5 pulls upon the loop of thread just drawn through the work and tightens the stitch of which said loop forms a part, the pull-off gradually rising in the meantime, giving up its thread to the needle and gradually applying an increasing resistance to the thread until it moves as high as the tension of the thread will lift it, and then it stands still during the last part of the retracting stroke of the needle--= that is to say, during the time the needle is exerting its greatest strain on the thread. The needle then advances again and the cycle of operations is repeated.

Having thus described my invention ,1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patcut-- 1. A chain=stitch hook-needle shoe-sewing machine, having in combination, a needle, a looper, a tension, an automatic tension-releasing device to automatically relieve the thread from the action of the tension device, a spring actuated pull-off and thread controlling device engaging the thread and carryin g it to one side from a direct course thus forming a loop or bight in the thread between the tension device and the looper, a threadfinger engaging the thread and carrying it to one side from a direct course thus forming a loop or bight in the thread between the looper and the last stitch formed, the thread held within the loops or bights by the pull-off and thread-controlling device and the thread-finger being given up to supply thread for the sides of the loop of thread which is being drawn through the work by the needle,whereby the thread is supplied for the formation of the stitch free from tension due to the tension device and rendering of the thread in the heck of the needle and around the between substance is reduced and means for actuating the parts, substantially as described.

2. A chain-stitch hook-needle shoe-sewing machine, having, in combination, a needle, a looper, a tension, an automatic releasing de- IIO vice for the tension device to intermittently relieve the thread from the action of said device, aspiring-actuated pull-01f to draw thread from the thread-supply when said thread is relieved from tension due to the tension and to give up the thread thus held with a gradually-increasing resistance thereomfor the purpose set forth.

3. A chain-stitch hook-needle shoe-sewing machine, having, in combination, a needle, a looper, a tension, a tension-releasing device, a spring-actuated pull-off acting to pull a bight of thread from the supply While the tension is released and to hold said bight of thread under a less strain than the tension while the tension is on and to give it up to the needle during its next retreating or loopdrawing stroke, and means for actuating the parts, substantially as described.

a. A chain-stitch hook-needle shoe-sewing machine, having, in combination, a needle, a looper, a tension, a tension-releasing device, a spring-actuated combined pull-offand takeup acting to pull a bight of thread .from the supply while the tension is released and to take up slack thread from the loop standing around the shank of the needle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY OHADBOURN. lVit-nesses:

ARTHUR O. J ONES, LAI'J'RITZ N. MoLLnn. 

